Athletics
28 January, 2025
Horsham to host half marathon festival
On Sunday, September 14, Horsham will host a Half Marathon Running festival organised by Brian Haddy.
Haddy runs marathon events in Cooper Pedy, has an annual one in Broken Hill, and recently started one in Mildura, which attracted strong support.
Haddy said the Horsham event occurred following exploration after his Mildura event last year.
"Quite a few that came to Mildura last year asked if there was one closer to Melbourne," Haddy said.
"I then started to look at towns around the middle of Victoria and thought Horsham was a nice place to start.
"I saw that Horsham had a lot of park runs, and one thing led to another, and we thought we would trial it for this year, and I have every intention of running a full marathon in the second year, depending on the support we get."
"Marathons create mystique and attraction, and so far, we have had 20 or 30 people sign up, and the chatter on social media is positive."
Haddy said the reason he loves running these events is because he is a park run tragic.
"I have run 493 park runs in the last ten years and saw an active one in Horsham," Haddy said.
"This half-marathon event allows people from the wider region to extend themselves.
"There is more training involved, and it's good for your health, and to have an annual challenge for a long event keeps people motivated to keep up with training."
"We will have quite a few Adelaide and Melbourne people in Horsham, which will help boost the tourism."
"I love doing it. I love seeing the enjoyment that people get from it. It's a joyous event and family-friendly."
"Everyone will get a medal, and they can proudly wear them around their necks, and in this troubled world, there's a lot to be pessimistic about. It's an event where everyone is happy and achieving personal goals and is an antidote for troubled times."
Haddy is hoping for a couple of hundred participants.
"If I get a couple hundred runners, then I'd be happy, and I can build that up in future years," Haddy said.
"We have the Australian Marathon ace team involved, bringing 20 or 30 runners from Melbourne. They are pacing runners in various marathons.
"They are support runners and will have a jacket on and different times displayed, and they will run to that time.
"If someone wants to aim for 2:30, he can follow that pacer and knows he has to stick with him to reach that time."
"I am looking forward to the event and hoping we can build it into something special."
The event will have pacers running the following times: 1:30, 1:40, 1:50, 2:00, 2:10, 2:20, 2:30, 2:40, 2:50, 3:00 and a course sweeper.
There is a kids' dash and a quarter marathon as well.
The kid's dash is over 2km, while the quarter marathon walk and run are over 10.55km.
For more information and to sign up, visit www.horshamhalf.com.au